Macfarlanes, Mishcon de Reya and LV among prize winners at British Legal Awards 2014
Macfarlanes, Mishcon de Reya and LV were among the winners at the British Legal Awards last night (27 November), in London's Old Billingsgate Market.
November 27, 2014 at 07:03 PM
5 minute read
Macfarlanes, Mishcon de Reya and LV's in-house team were among the big winners at the British Legal Awards last night (27 November), in London's Old Billingsgate Market.
Macfarlanes (pictured, bottom) fended off competition from Baker & McKenzie, Clyde & Co, Hogan Lovells, Mishcon de Reya and Sullivan & Cromwell to scoop the coveted Law Firm of the Year award.
Mishcon de Reya managing partner Kevin Gold (pictured with Legal Week editor Georgina Stanley) took home the Editor's Award for Law Firm Leader of the Year, after more than doubling firm turnover over the past five years.
The City of London Law Society (CLLS) awarded its Lifetime Achievement Award to Solicitors' Regulation Authority board chair Charles Plant, whose career in the legal sector included 29 years at legacy Herbert Smith (now part of Herbert Smith Freehills) as a litigation and arbitration partner.
Plant highlighted the awarding of higher court rights of audience to solicitors as a key development during his career and described the awarding of silk to five solicitors this year as a major recognition of the profession. He also called on commercial law firms to widen access to City law by adopting apprenticeship schemes.
Among the in-house awards, Legal Department of the Year was awarded to insurance group LV, while Thomas Cook's Craig Stoehr (pictured left, with Philip Bramwell) won General Counsel of the Year.
By practice, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer secured the prize for M&A Team of the Year off the back of its work advising AstraZeneca during its takeover battle with Pfizer while Allen & Overy was named Banking, Finance and Restructuring Team of the Year for its role on steel trader Stemcor's $2bn (£1.3bn) restructuring.
Jones Day won the award for Litigation and Dispute Resolution Team of the Year and RPC was named Commercial Team of the Year.
Meanwhile, Client Partner of the Year – a new award for 2014 – was jointly awarded to Norton Rose Fulbright corporate partner Jonathan Herbst and Shoosmiths head of technology media and commercial David Jackson.
The winners received the most recommendations from general counsel in Legal Week Intelligence's 2014 Client Satisfaction Survey.
Other winners included Magnusson, which picked up European Law Firm of the Year; Brodies, which was named UK Law Firm of the Year; and Maples and Calder, which won Offshore Firm of the Year.
London Office of the Year went to Latham & Watkins while Uria Menendez took home the prize for European Legal Team of the Year.
The judging panel was chaired by CLLS chairman Alasdair Douglas. The judges included Sir Anthony Salz, executive vice chairman at Rothschild, Dame Janet Gaymer, chair of the House of Commons management board, and Philip Bramwell, group general counsel at BAE Systems.
The host for the evening was comedian and novelist David Baddiel.
The winners in full
- City of London Law Society Lifetime Achievement Award: Charles Plant
- Law Firm of the Year: Macfarlanes
- Editor's Award – Law Firm Leader of the Year: Kevin Gold, Mishcon de Reya
- Client Partner of the Year: Jonathan Herbst, Norton Rose Fulbright (global firms); David Jackson, Shoosmiths (UK firms)
- General Counsel of the Year: Craig Stoehr, Thomas Cook
- Legal Department of the Year: LV=
- European Law Firm of the Year: Magnusson
- UK Law Firm of the Year: Brodies
- Offshore Law Firm of the Year: Maples and Calder
- London Office of the Year: Latham & Watkins
- Chambers of the Year: Thirty Nine Essex Street
- In-house Innovation Award: Bonnington Plastics
- Law Firm Innovation Award: DWF
- CSR Initiative of the Year: DLA Piper
- Diversity Initiative of the Year: Aspiring Solicitors
- Education and Training Initiative of the Year: Weightmans
- Assistant/Associate Solicitor/Legal Counsel of the Year: Gemma Vine, Lester Morrill
- M&A Team of the Year: Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
- Banking, Finance and Restructuring Team of the Year: Allen & Overy
- Litigation and Dispute Resolution Team of the Year: Jones Day
- Competition and Regulatory Team of the Year: Berwin Leighton Paisner
- Property Team of the Year: Taylor Wessing
- TMT Team of the Year: Simmons & Simmons
- Commercial Team of the Year: RPC
- Private Client Team of the Year: Charles Russell Speechlys
- European Legal Team of the Year: Uria Menendez
- Best Use of Technology: DWF
- Supplier of the Year: Thomson Reuters Legal
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